Corruption
by Twisted List
Summary: Janice Cordwell only wanted to help the world; expanding and promoting a healthy life for each individual in the world. She joined B.T.A for that very reason. Yet, not everything was as it seemed and Janice and the rest of the world are at the mercy of B.T.A's 'Mistake'. Rated M.


**Corruption**

**Chapter One: One Fine Day to One Deathly Mistake **

**Rated M for Vulgar Language, Violence, Etc.**

**A/N – I love Zombie games and especially the Walking Dead so I've decided to make my own FanFic of the Walking dead! It's not Rick's group from the show or Lee's group from the game! It's a bunch of OC's! Also, I've created my own way the disease was spread so it probably isn't cannon by who cares, It's a fanfic! xD .Anyways, I hope you enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead in any way, shape or form. I'm Just a fan!**

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"_**Death is a debt we all must pay." – Euripides**_

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**Chapter One: One Fine Day to One Deathly Mistake**

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I knew it was coming. The end of the world – the Zombie Apocalypse.

I mean, I wasn't a gaming nerd who'd sit there claiming I could live throughout the whole thing or some senile person who'd proclaim the world was ending every single day. No. I did none of that. I was just an office employee at B.T.A, or Bio-Tech of America. The company wasn't popular in the media – in fact it was underground. We worked with the Government creating new serums that could enhance life. If any news of what we were doing got out the people would cry in outrage. But I scoffed at that idea – we were creating ways to make people live longer, healthier lives! There's no way in hell they could hate such a marvelous idea like that. I didn't see any harm in what we were doing – until a few months ago.

I was walking down the halls late at night. There were no windows and all for lighting I had was the small light bulbs that dangled freely from the ceiling. The way the light hit off the walls made it seem like I was wandering down to my death. It wasn't like I was afraid of the dark or anything. It was just plain out creepy. I trudged further along the hall, finally reaching the stockroom. My boss wanted me to fetch him some blank data sheets for the new test he was running – the man was always running tests.

It seemed he never left either. When I'd come into work, he'd be slouched over his desk reading results and when I'd leave work, he'd be running more tests. He was a dedicated soul that man was. He wanted the world to reach a new state in living – a world with virtually no disease and longer healthier, lives for everyone. He inspired me when he came to speak at the college I was attending and I wanted to do what he was doing. He pulled me aside telling me to contact him later and I did. He was able to get me an interview and in a few weeks I was a part of B.T.A. I was put to work under my boss, learning everything I could. I was his Assistant so it was my job to do whatever he told me to.

I reached into the stockroom, shuffling my hands around for empty data sheets. While rummaging through the stockroom, my hands touched something metal. I grasped the object in question and by the feel of the item I could tell it was a Key. Glancing at it I raised an eyebrow. It looked like a key I had seen one of the CEO's flaunting around on their necks recently. They had told us they 'successfully' created a serum and needed to test it first – the keys leading to the testing chambers.

I couldn't help myself – I pocketed the key. I scrambled out of the stockroom, snatching a few data sheets on my way out. I walked briskly back down the hallway I was just in – I felt as if I didn't leave soon, I'd get caught. I made it back to the lab, handing my Boss his papers. He raised an eyebrow as he examined me.

"Somethin' wrong, Janice?" He slowly placed down the beaker he was looking at. I felt my mouth go dry a little bit.

"Everything is fine, Sir! Just a bit tired from today. Testing one-hundred samples in one day is insane!" I laughed dryly. My boss only shrugged, going back to the beaker. I sighed as I plopped down next to him, letting my hand travel into my pocket. I started playing with the key. The shape was unusual to say the least. It wasn't like one of the normal keys used by all the employees. I retracted my hand from my pocket. I could mess and look at the key later. Right now I had to focus on work.

I finished the night out, trying my best to act normal – but the key was twisting my thoughts. What did this damn key mean? Where did it belong? What did it open? So many questions filtered through my brain. The next day at work, I noticed a few CEO's on edge. They seemed to be panicking. I didn't know why though until later during the work day. I was walking back to the lab and noticed a few CEO's standing by the water cooler. They were muttering to each other. Curious, I dropped by the water cooler getting a drink pretending to be on my cellphone at the same time.

"…key is still missing…could have lost it… basically, we're fucked," I heard one of the CEO's mumble out. The one on his left shook his head, and the one on his right side sighed loudly before replying.

"We need …if not found…. People are going to die…" My ears stung. I held my panic in as I walked by, trying my best to act calmly. I reached my hand into my pocket, gripping the key. Did the key mean that much? Was it really that important? I glanced into my pocket. The key gleamed with a dull color. Could a key really dictate whether or not someone lives or dies? I shook my head trying to shake off the thought. I should have just given them the key when I had the chance, but they might assume that I stole it – and that wouldn't work out for me. I sighed before plopping down into my desk chair. I ran my hand through my hair, trying to figure out how to get the key back to the CEO's and not somehow lose my job.

I loved my job more than anything in the world, and I didn't want to lose it at all.

My boss glanced over to my desk, questioning me with his facial expressions. I couldn't help but chuckle at him. He was always making goofy facial expressions, trying his best to cheer anyone up. It wasn't like working at B.T.A. was awful or a very demanding job – sometimes people just felt down and needed to be cheered up. I remember one time a co-worker's theory was proven wrong and how devastated he was – but my boss cheered him up, telling him that failure could only lead to greater accomplishments.

I smiled over at him. He smiled back and returned back to his work. I glanced down on my desk, reading over the lab results I was to read and take apart, making sure all the chemicals used was exact in amounts and that their results were normal. I ended up getting stumped on one equation and when I asked my boss, he too was stumped. He directed me to go to the Testing Chamber Lab to consult with the scientists down there - they'd know what the heck was going on with this equation. I started down to the Testing Chamber Lab, reading over the equation. It didn't make one bit of sense to me – hopefully the guys down in the Testing Chamber Lab knew what it meant. About halfway to the Lab, I noticed a small secluded hallway. I never noticed it before – and my curiosity was peaking. I glanced down the hallway I was in – no one was with me and there were no security cameras. I walked briskly to the small secluded hallway, making sure no one was down it first before entering.

I snuck down the hallway, glancing behind me from time to time. I wasn't sure if I was allowed down this hallway – hell it could just be a shortcut to the lab – then again it could lead to a secret place. I kept on walking down the hall until I finally reached the end. The hallway lead me to a door – a huge block of steel. It had a fancy locking mechanism with a small hole in the center of the door. Touching the door, I felt weird. I wasn't too sure what it was but something inside me was telling me to not open the door. To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm happy I did or not.

I reached into my pocket, gripping the key – no one knew I had it. I looked around the area – no one knew I was down here. A small peak couldn't hurt right? I felt my mouth go dry as I slowly pulled the key from my pocket. I examined the key closely. It had smooth edges, making an oval shape at the end of the key. It also was etched with lines on the sides. On the handle of the key, 'B.T.A' was engraved into it. I raised my gaze to the door in front of me. The key hole seemed to draw me in. I raised the key, hovering over the key hole. I inserted the key. The door echoed as it released all the locks.

I pushed the door with all my might – I was nervous and could barely calm my nerves to open the door. With the door resting on the wall, I looked inside but couldn't see anything because of how dark it was. I reached inside the room by the door looking for a light switch but couldn't find one. I took a step in, making sure to not bump into anything. I tried my best looking in the dark but to no avail. I saw nothing. Ready to give up, I turned around to the door until I heard a groan come from within the room. I turned slowly to see a small light appear. It outlined what seemed to be like a huge cage in front of me. Reaching forward, I touched metal bars. Peering through the bars, I noticed another light flicker on in the distance. Curious, I jumped up and raised my arms. More lights came on.

The room was controlled by light sensors. I froze. What if there were cameras in here? They'd surely spot me – but I couldn't see a damn thing either. I needed the light – I just couldn't be in it. I raised my arms, waving them around, turning the lights back on. I was able to get a few on and noticed a new outline – an outline of a person. I raised an eyebrow as I slowly halted all movement. What was this person doing in here? They were standing in the middle of the cage, doing nothing at all. I watched them for a few more seconds until I said something.

"Hello? Are you okay?" The person's outline seemed to move - they were facing me. I sighed in relief. I thought there was something wrong with this person.

"Hey, what are you doing in this cage? Is it a project or something?" I asked, not sure if I was in the right position to ask. The person started towards me – and they weren't saying anything. I peered in once more. The lights were turning on as the person made their way towards me. I stood their horrified.

The lights showed the person in all their horrified glory. I didn't even know what to call it. It was like a rotten corpse. It's sunken in face, white glazed eyes and a decayed body. It was awful. It disturbed me. I backed away from the cage, holding my mouth closed with my hands. I wanted to scream. I turned to run out of the room until I heard footsteps coming to the door. Panicked I ran to the side, cramping down behind what I determined was a stack of boxes. Three figures appeared from the door.

"What's going on in here? Who's here?!" Boomed a loud authoritative voice. My heart froze over in fear. I ducked down even further. If I was caught, I'd be dead. Suddenly, as if it were magic, lights appeared overhead. I caught a glimpse of the three standing at the door. Two were top CEO's and the other was the President of the company. I heard a groan and looked ahead – and I almost lost it.

There, behind the cage stood a handful of 'zombies'. They groaned and moaned, ambling around with no real point. Some of them had missing limbs. Some of them were half decayed. I held back my screams of fear and disgust as the CEO's seemed to marvel at the zombies.

"It seems to be working. The serum, I mean. As you can see here, our test subjects have clearly died and resurrected themselves. Though, of course, we can't tell the government. We'd lose all funding if they found out what we created."

My ears stung. My stomach ached. This was all too much. B.T.A was supposed to be helping life and enhancing it – not creating… _this_. I felt tears well up in my eyes. Who all knew about this? I looked out into the hoard of zombies. One stuck out in particular. The CEO's and president were busy talking and I noticed another stacks of boxes. Quickly and quietly, I dashed to the boxes hiding behind them. I peered out. They didn't notice me at all. I sighed lightly and peered back into the cage only to feel my eyes open wide in shock and my mouth drop open. In front of me was a zombie, sniffing the air staring straight at me. Fear drove deep into my skin.

I couldn't help myself – I screamed. The CEO's and President turned sharply, glaring over at where I was hiding. I panicked. I had nowhere to go. They started towards me. I closed my eyes until I suddenly heard a click noise – the lights went out. This was my chance. I bolted from my hiding spot, rushing past the three guys and out the door. I didn't stop running till I reached the storeroom I was at the night before. I slid down against the wall, panting heavily. The zombie's face stuck out clearly in my mind.

It looked like an old coworker of mine. They said she had moved due to some unknown reason – and I didn't question it at all. Were they going to use all of us and turn us in to that?! I bowed my head, sobbing. I couldn't understand what I was supposed to think? I sobbed for a few minutes until the door to the stockroom opened. I quickly stood up wiping my tears away. My bossed waltzed in, surprised at my presence.

"Janice?! What's wrong?!" My boss ran to me, holding me and patting me on the back. I wailed as I leaned into his chest. He started patting my head, brushing my hair, and shushing me telling me it was okay. He didn't even know what I saw. I stopped crying, looking at him with my tearful eyes. I had to tell him. He could do something about it – I just knew it. I reached into my pocket, gripping the key with all my might. I pulled it out and flashed it in front of him. My boss cringed.

"Why do you have that?" He released me from his grasp. I felt my mouth go dry. I should just tell him the truth. I found it in the stockroom the other night, found the room it went to and saw the horrific truth of what we're really doing.

But I couldn't voice it at all.

"I found it in the stockroom… and I was afraid to say anything because the CEO's might of think I've stolen it," I lied straight through my teeth. My boss sighed, patting me on the back.

"And you're crying over that? They just want their key back, Janice. Stop with the tears, they're not going to punish you." I wiped the tears away from my face. Maybe it'd be better if he didn't know. He was a passionate man about his work – I wouldn't want to ruin his dream job. He walked me to the CEO's office area and returned the key with me. The CEO's kept glaring at me as I told them where I found it.

"So you say you found it in the stockroom?" A blonde-haired CEO quipped. I nodded 'yes' and he didn't seem to like my answer. Did he know that I was in the room or did he just not believe me? It wasn't like I could tell him the truth – I could end up like those trapped in that cage. I felt my eyes twitch at that thought. What if all of those trapped in the cage were once people who knew about the serum that created the disease? I shook my head trying to rid myself of the thought.

"Hmm, very well. Thank you Ms. Cordwell and Mr. Luke. You've helped us a lot." The CEO chimed out with a nasty under tone. My boss and I left their office. I couldn't shake away a feeling I had. I couldn't even describe it. I held my stomach as it ached. I felt sick. I told my boss I was feeling sick and called off the rest of the day. My boss wasn't too keen on it since we were so close to finishing a trial run of a serum that could speed up cell regeneration but he didn't force me to stay. He walked me to the doors.

"Well, Janice, I hope you feel better. You had a stressful day… but I don't know if I can finish this trial run today without you!" My boss chimed out. I sighed. It wasn't like I was that much help. All I did was do what he said and every once in a while point something out he might have missed. I held my stomach once more.

"I'm sorry, I just don't feel too hot today. I think I actually might be getting sick."

"Hm, well you take all the time you need to recover. I'll have the Testing Chamber Lab send me one of their assistants while you're gone. They're not as great as you, Ms. Janice, but they'll do just fine," My boss said, patting me on my back. I sighed and smiled a bit. He really could cheer anyone up.

I waved goodbye to him and started my way to my house. I just wanted to get home. While walking home, I passed a grocery store – and the urge to shop was absurdly high. I shuffled into the grocery store. It wasn't empty yet it wasn't full. I walked around the aisles with a cart filling it with canned goods and bottled water. When I got up to the cash register, the women couldn't help but laugh.

"What's all this for? What, end of the world coming soon?" She asked between her fit of laughter. I felt my eyes dilate and my stomach churn – I was. I didn't know when it was going to end – but what I saw made me realize something.

The End was near. There was no way they could keep that whole mess underground for much longer. I held my stomach as the lady continued to ask me questions. She probably thought I was some crazy lunatic. But I didn't give a fuck. I didn't want to become one of _those_. Just thinking about the zombies made me gag – I knew deep down they were no longer human. While walking out of the store my knees locked and I dropped to my knees. I hurridly covered my mouth but I couldn't stop it. I vomited all over the ground. Pedestrians all around me sighed, telling me they were not pleased with me at all. The cashier that checked me out busted through the doors, asking if I was okay. I simply ignored her, got up and ran away.

After a few minutes of running, I paused, waiting to regain my breath. I felt disgusted with myself – I needed to tell someone; someone who could stop and maybe save those trapped in the cage. But… could there be a way to save them? A way to transform them back into their normal human selves? I ran my un-dirtied hand through my hair. It wasn't right – this isn't what we, B.T.A, were supposed to do. I sighed as I started walking back to my house once more.

When I got to my house, I rinsed my hand and face and I put all my groceries in a cabinet – and threw a spare lock and chain on it. If and when the end of the world came, I wasn't going to let some arrogant punks steal my stockpile – that's right, I need to make a stock pile. I ran to my computer, searching for things that could last for a long time. I ended up ordering lots and lots of food that could last a very long time. I ended up ordering a brand new first aid kit – more like four, to be honest. I ended up buying a gas mask off E-Bay, a brand-new Camping Kit from Wal-Mart, and even bought a gun.

I had never liked the thoughts of guns so I never kept one around. With the circumstances now though, owning a gun wasn't an option – it was gonna mean life and death one day. I stashed all my new equipment throughout my house. I didn't want everyone to think I was some paranoid freak – I already knew it but it was because of what I saw. I also ended up taking a week off work. The day after turning the key in, I called my boss up telling him I was ill. He wasn't happy with it but since I had never missed a day before he allowed it. I spent that whole week preparing for the end.

After my week break, I returned to work. My boss was delighted to see me but I wasn't happy at all. Work wasn't fun anymore. I plopped down at my desk and ran through all the equations. Once again I was stumped on another equation – and my boss sent me back to the Testing Chamber Lab people. I trudged on down trying my best to suppress my fear. I walked down and stopped by the hallway that led to the caged room. Looking all around me, I saw no one – and I walked down the hall to the room.

Each step I took, my heart beat raced faster, my mouth got drier and my legs got weak – But I couldn't stop myself. I was screaming and shaking in fear on the inside but it was like I was in a trance and couldn't control my body or actions. I finally reached the door. I ran my hand over the door – it was freezing cold to the touch. I sighed. It wasn't like I could go back into the room – but then again why would I want to go back in there? It was awful and I still had the images from last time stuck in my head.

I turned around to go back and to my surprise there was a little girl standing in front of me. She had long black hair in pig tails, dark brown eyes and a devilish grin. She reached her hand out towards me – holding a key to the room. My mouth was dry. Was she trying to give me the key?

I slowly reached my hand out, grasping the key. As soon as I had hold of it, the little girl turned, cackling and ran away. I felt my heart tighten up.

Something wasn't right.

I turned to the door, my hand quivering as it held the key. I reached up and put the key into the key hole. The door made a loud noise as it unlocked its self, giving my entrance. I tip-toed in to the room unsure of what I was going to find. Inside, I saw the same cage – but the number of the zombies seemed to have multiplied and there was a large glass case in the middle of the cage. Curious, I leaned in until I heard the door close behind me. I snapped back around seeing the blonde-hair CEO from last week. He was scowling at me, holding a weird looking syringe in his hand. Panic coursed through my veins.

What was he doing?

"Hello, Ms. Janice." I didn't say anything. I stood there quietly in fear. He walked over to me and I started to back up. He laughed as he pinned me up against the wall.

"Isn't this funny, Ms. Janice? I mean, look at all those brainless fuckers walk 'round and 'round," He spat out, pointing to the zombies. His voice attracted the zombies over and they started to lean up against the cage. They wanted out. They wanted us. I tried to squirm free from his grasp but he wouldn't let me. I growled out in frustration and he only cackled with pleasure.

"You're not going _anywhere_," He roared out as he threw my down onto the floor, straddling me. I raised my arms up to push him off but he was stronger and faster – he pinned me down. He used his forearm and started to choke me. I gasped and gagged as I felt my lungs ache from no air.

"Why are you doing this to me?!" I choked out between gasping and gagging for air. I shouldn't have even been talking. I tried my best to remove his grip but it was useless. He punched me in the stomach, causing me to cough violently. My lungs burned harshly. He glared down at me.

"You're going to be just like them, Ms. Janice. We can't have anyone else knowing about _this _" He quickly released his forearm off my neck watching me with sick pleasure as I gasped for air. Seconds later, his forearm met my neck again, crushing my air way. I coughed and choked. He licked his lips watching me wither in pain.

"I'm sorry, but I love playing with my victims – especially the girl ones," He growled out seductively as he ran his other hand up my inner thigh. I closed my eyes. This was awful. I wanted him to just finish me off – but then again, I wasn't ready to die.

I had to get the word out as to what was happening! I should have done it sooner – fuck, I should have ran to the news the day I figured everything out. I opened my eyes as he once again removed his arm, allowing me to catch my breath. I tried to fight him off but he ended up punching me hard in the stomach. I crumpled over and quickly rolled to my side, holding my stomach as it ached horribly.

He straddled himself over me again and pinned both my arms back with one of his massive hands and using the other one to travel and explore under my shirt. I wiggled underneath him. I didn't like this one bit – and I wasn't ready to give up yet. With the last amount of strength I had, I screamed as loud as I could.

"HELP! SOMEONE, HELP ME!" I felt my lungs burn with pleads for oxygen – I was feeling dizzy and woozy, on the edge of passing out. I felt my field of vision going black. I saw the CEO grin and caress my face.

"No one is going to he-, "the CEO said before a loud 'bang' interrupted him. He and I, with my vision somewhat distorted, glanced over at the door – and both were shocked at who was standing at the door.

My Boss, Mr. Luke, was standing at the entrance. His eyes were full of shock and confusion. He automatically made eye contact with me and saw utter fear seeping through my eyes and skin. He didn't move though.

"What are you doing to my assistant…?" Mr. Luke roared out, obviously not pleased with the sight. The CEO cackled as he removed himself from me and stood up facing my boss face to face.

"I was yelling at her. She wasn't supposed to be in here and neither are you. It's fucking obvious that you two stole the key to break into here," the CEO chimed out evilly as he pated the cage. I quickly stood up and went to run to my boss but the CEO creep stopped me dead in my tracks. He placed the syringe from earlier against my neck. I didn't know what exactly was in the syringe – but I knew it'd make me into a zombie. My boss's eyes narrowed as the CEO laughed.

"Don't come any closer or she'll become one of those poor bastards," My boss glanced over to the cage – and horror spelled its self out on my boss's face. He quickly glanced over at me then looked up at the CEO.

"What the fuck happened to them?!" The CEO merely shrugged at my boss's reaction.

"They're test subjects. Well, at least they were until they died – now they're just mindless idiots who are compelled to eat flesh. It's rather useful," My boss cringed.

"This isn't right at all. We're supposed to help the world, not fucking condemn it!" The CEO shook his head as he pressed the syringe closer to my neck.

"You're a damn fool then. Thinking that you can actually help improve human life, Hah! What a joke. Most people are weak and don't deserve to fucking live – and we're going to use this to weed out the weak and take control over the world. It's all about whose the sneakiest and most powerful." I felt my mouth go dry and my stomach churn. My boss narrowed his eyes more as he clenched his hands into fists.

I then noticed the CEO relaxed a bit and decided to chance it. I head butted him with the back of my head and when he let me go, I tackled him into the fence. The zombies grabbed a hold of him, showing him no mercy. They clawed him, yanked him and ripped him a part. The zombies had such a tight grip on him that he started to indent into the cage's wire mesh. Blood trickled down his face and body. It oozed out of his eyes as a zombie dug its dirtied, deformed hand into his eyes socket. His arms were turned into nothing but a deformed limb – all the muscle fiber hanging out and the bone acting as a bar for the zombie's to hold on for better leverage. The started to break through the cage's weak mesh guard and started dragging the CEO into the cage so they could eat him up.

The CEO screams were awful to listen too – and I was frozen on the spot. I couldn't move at all. My boss quickly ran up past me, grabbing the syringe off the floor that the CEO dropped. He then turned to me, grabbed my hand and forced me to run out the room.

We didn't shut the door and down the hall the man's screams licked our heels.

My boss led me to the stockroom. He slammed the door shut, locked it then turned to me. His eyes were brimming with tears – My eyes were red and puffy.

"What the hell was that…" I felt myself start to tear up again. I just saw a man be torn up and eaten alive.

"I-I don't know… I th-hink they're zombies…" My boss looked down at the ground.

"Zombies? But… they only exist in Halloween tales and video games." I could feel his disbelief and shock – but it was the truth and there was no denying it. The way those _things _acted wasn't human at all – they didn't even look human anymore. They were thirsty for our blood and hungry for our flesh. I ran my hand through my hair, trying to calm myself down but I couldn't do it. I ran into my boss, clutching onto the back of my boss's lab coat. He hugged me back and we stood there crying.

Watching a man die that way isn't easy.

After a while of comforting each other and calming down, we decided to leave work. There was no way we were sticking around for the after math. I quickly made my way down the hallway with my boss back to the lab. Once we were there, we noticed no one else was in the lab. Curious, I started to examine the place as my boss checked the buildings wireless walky-talky channel. After checking the place out, I deemed it safe and returned back to my boss – only to see him crestfallen.

"What's wrong?" He didn't look up. The walky-talky didn't make a peep – silence was the only thing that left the walky-talky. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"… Whatever turned those people into those mindless monsters… is in the general public." I felt time itself freeze. That couldn't be true. I ran to the window, looking outside only to see total chaos. Police cars were outside along with CDC vans and quarantine teams. I panicked and looked over at my boss. How were we going to get out of here? There's no way in hell we could leave through the front doors. I looked back out and noticed a few of our co-workers being pushed around. Then a bunch of police men raised their guns and shot them all. I backed up from the window, covering my mouth to muffle my scream. My boss grabbed my hand and told me to run. He led me into his office, pushed a few books on his bookcase and ended up revealing a hidden door - leading to a panic room.

He ushered me in making sure no one else saw us go in his office before coming into the room himself and locking us in it. He hit a few buttons next to the door, making the bookcase return to its original position. I wanted to cry. I just saw people I worked with, that I had bonded with over the years, get shot – murdered for something they didn't even know about – but I physically couldn't cry anymore. I was too tired to produce tears and couldn't conjure up fake ones. My boss scanned the room and then He turned briskly to me and sighed.

"This is awful." I nodded in agreement. I gently placed my head on my hands, feeling my body shake from all the adrenaline it was pumping into my system. I was jumpy, on edge and feeling dead. I glanced up at my boss then around the room. He had a small bed located in the one corner, a toilet on the other side, hidden behind a blind, a small kitchen area and enough food and water to last a week.

"How long are we going to have to stay here? Does anyone else know about this place?" I quipped. I didn't want to end up dying – at least not here. I wanted to let the whole world to know what happened. My boss held his head, thinking. I watched him closely. He surely could get us both out of here.

"I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see." I felt my heart sink. I didn't want to stay here for long – but I guess I didn't have a choice. I closed my eyes as I tried to relax and calm my aching body and exhausted mind. I glanced over at the bed. It'd be extremely nice to take a nap but in this situation? That'd be stupid. My boss sighed and glared over at me.

"If you're tired, go take a nap on the bed. It's not like they're going to find us – they' don't have blueprints to this building and don't even have the code to this room,"

"But sleeping now is-"

"Just sleep. I got us covered. I won't let anything happen to us – I don't wanna die today and I'm pretty damn sure you don't want to either. Now go sleep." I lowered my gaze in defeat. I trudged over to the bed, lowering myself onto the soft plush comforter. I snuggled up against the pillow and fell asleep in seconds.

When I woke up, it was to the sounds of people rustling and throwing books around my boss's office. I shot up straight in the bed in fear. My boss was sitting on a chair looking at a monitor. It displayed the carnage that was occurring. In the lab, where I had worked for years, police officers were smashing and destroying everything that crossed their path. The storeroom was being torn and burned. My boss's office was being torn apart too. The Police Officers ripped all his books to shreds – thankfully, they didn't open the way to the panic room.

"They've been at this for hours…" My boss trailed off at the end. I stood up from the bed. Looking once more at the monitor, I noticed it was nighttime. Last time I was awake it was just about noon. I plopped down next to him in another chair. I watched as the Police officers went crazy. They were searching for something – and I wasn't sure what it was. On the once screen, we saw them pickpocket someone – it was a higher-up. It seemed like they didn't care who died – they wanted to find the item that badly. The one officer glanced over and noticed a key and picked it up. He examined it then called over other officers so they could look at it as well.

Then they all made their way to a certain caged room – well they attempted too. Earlier, when we ran out, we didn't close the large door. The cage mesh fell and almost all the zombies escaped into the hallway, attacking others in the building. I felt crushed. I had caused the death of people – and all I ever wanted to do was save and help people. My boss and I watched as they gunned, flamed and beat the horde of zombies. Unfortunately, no matter how hard they hit the zombies they didn't seem to die. I looked away as the zombies torn the flesh right off of the police officers.

"…I don't even understand how this was created… It makes no sense. How was it even delivered to the public?" I felt myself freeze up. That's right. My boss earlier had mentioned that this was in the general public now. I felt myself get woozy. This was awful.

This truly was the end of everything.

I reached up to my boss, gripping his shoulder. I felt so pathetic. I didn't know what to do – I was left completely behind in the planning department. My boss grabbed a gun that he had hidden in the panic room and looked me squarely in the face.

"Listen here; your house is closer than my apartment so we're going there. Once we get there we'll pack up as much as we can into your car then drive out to Dusty's Storage. I have a shitton of supplies there. Once we're at Dusty's, we can regroup and figure out what to do next." I shook my head.

His plan was better than anything I could think of so I agreed. He slowly opened the panic room door and led me out of the room. We started down the hallway and then booked it out the side doors that lead into an alleyway. We booked it out and around the corner to my house. Within minutes, we reached my house. I shoved the key into my door and unlocked it. We both ran in and I slammed the door behind us, making sure to lock it. We both caught our breath before saying anything.

"… This is gonna sound crazy, but I'm ready for this." My boss raised an eyebrow. I grabbed his hand and led him to my cabinet. I unlocked it and showed him my stockpile. He couldn't help himself and started laughing.

"You are shittin' me right now. This is hysterical – but a blessing at the same time." I couldn't help but join him in laughing. It was kinda funny in the sense of surprise but I know he was thankful for it. I don't think the supermarkets would have emergency survival kits or anything to help you live through a zombie apocalypse. I ran upstairs into my bedroom, grabbing four large duffle bags. I had collected them over the years, not really needing them – but my pack-rat-self told me to keep them.

Sometimes a horrible habit can pay out in the end.

While we were stuffing the duffle bags to the brim, he turned on the local news channel. The channel was covered with graphic images, showing zombies eating and attacking people who weren't infected. The reporter said that this should breeze over in a couple of days – and we were damn foosl to believe that. Something of this scale couldn't be taken care of in just a few days. I ran my hand through my hair as I sighed once more.

This was a nightmare.

Once we finished stuffing the bags, we placed them in the back of my car. It was a red Honda Civic. I jumped into the passenger side, letting my boss have the wheel since he knew were Dusty's storage was. I leaned forward, placing my head into my hands. I just wanted to wake up – this just had to be a horrible nightmare. My boss patted me on the back.

"Don't worry, we'll be okay." He gave me a small smile and started the car up. We backed out of my garage and started down the road to Dusty's Storage. On the way there, we passed several stragglers. Or survivors; whatever you wanna call them. I wanted to stop and help them but they could have been bitten or hostile. We ended up reaching Dusty's Storage within an hour and I was rather happy to see that there was barely anyone here. We both jumped out of the car, making sure to hide the duffle bags from plain sight. He led me to storage garage 3-A and opened it up. Inside were guns and a few medical equipment bags. He told me to grab as much as I could and I did.

When we finally were done collecting everything, we ran back to the car, stuffing the supplies back into the car. We both sat in the car in dead silence. I glanced over at my boss, finally absorbing his looks.

His chestnut-colored hair was somehow still spiked up in the front, giving him the look of a frat boy. His angular yet slim face made him seem quite young even though he was around thirty years old. He had a 5 O'clock shadow and his bright baby-blue eyes stood out against his pale skin. He looked rather exhausted – and I felt the same way. I glanced over in the mirror and took in the imagine of myself.

My red hair was thrown into a messy bun – I hadn't had the chance to fix it up. My light tanned skin with speckled with freckles and my green eyes seemed to be a bit duller then they usually were. My round face and nice facial structures made me seem much younger than I was. I thought for a second about how when my boss first met me he thought I was in high school. Thinking about the past made me wish none of this was happening.

I glanced over at my boss once more and asked him a question.

"What now?"

_**END OF CHAPTER ONE**_


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